My Little Pony Next Generation: The New Harmony!
by DarknessRising24
Summary: All characters in this story belong to Kilala97. Everybody knows the story of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, from the time they got the Elements of Harmony, to the point where they co-founded the first Council of Harmony. But when an ancient evil returns, and when the original wielders of Harmony aren't enough, a new generation of heroes must answer the call...
1. Prologue

_"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies lived together in peace and harmony under the rule of the Goddess of the Sun: Princess Celestia. However one fateful day, the Princess' sister, once corrupted with jealousy and spite, returned from her 1,000 year banishment, the wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon."_

_"Nightmare Moon vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night, and would have succeeded if not for six special mares -the most outrageous bunch of mares you'll ever hear of- who stood together to face the corrupted Princess, each one wielding the magic of the Elements of Harmony: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and Magic."_

_"Together they freed the Princess from the darkness that corrupted her, and went on to fight many evils that threatened the peace of Equestria. The God of Chaos who was tamed and shown the true power of friendship, shapeshifting creatures that were banished from the lands, an evil Unicorn King who was vanquished with the help of their ally: a brave young dragon."_

_"But eventually, they were forced to return the Elements to whence they came: the Tree of Harmony. And in doing so, unlocked a completely new power: the Rainbow Power, which aided them in imprisoning a powerful demon back in Tartarus."_

_"However as time has passed on, our heroines became older, and started the next, wonderful step of their lives...Parenthood. Each of our heroines eventually married and had children of their own to love and raise. But, even with a new charge on their hooves, they never forgot those daring times of adventure and how they all protected Equestria from Evil…"_

Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled as she finished her story before looking down at the sleeping unicorn colt in his bed. "Goodnight Nighty." She said before giving him a small kiss on his head before leaving the room and letting out a content sigh. _'I never do get tired of that story...'_ She thought to herself as she walked down the halls of her castle.

However, darkness doesn't cease to exist even in times of peace, it only seeks to grow…

* * *

><p>"Could you please knock it off?"<p>

"What? I'm not doing anything." Answered a maroon pegasus wearing royal guard armor

"Seriously, Hot Head. If the Lieutenant catches you, don't expect me to stand by your side." Warned the lavender unicorn stallion; Lucky Star. He and his friend; a red Pegasus named Hot Head, had been patrolling the hallways of Canterlot Castle as usual, making sure that nothing was out of place. Of course that is the exact opposite of what his pegasus buddy was doing.

The prankster had spent all their time in duty turning the helmets of every suit of armor they found, so that they were looking at the wall behind it. "Pfft, I don't get why you're so worried. I just wanna see how long it takes Fletcher to notice this." Calmly said Hot Head while adjusting another armor, one that was located on the entrance hall.

"Which could happen sooner than you expect and get you into some serious trouble. Just finish with that one and move on." Lucky pleaded to his all time friend. Even though Lucky would be much rather avoid unnecessary risks, he also enjoys a good prank once in a while. He'd sometimes even play as a lookout for Hot Head, so that neither of them got caught.

"Hold it right there!"

Just like now.

The two stallions turned around in alarm, only to glare at the source of the feminine voice. An Earth Pony mare with a golden mane and coat giggled as trotted towards the two. "Honestly, you guys can be too easy sometimes!" She snickered.

"Oh ha ha ha, very funny Amber!" Hot Head snorted.

"It's not my fault that you're so easy to tease." She smirked. "And besides, if you're going to go through the effort of pulling a prank..." She paused before grabbing one of the armor Hot Head had been messing with and adjusted the body and back-hoof, making it look like it was taking a leak. "...you need to go the extra mile." She finished as Hot Head fell on the floor laughing and Lucky just rolled his eyes.

"I swear it's like I work with toddlers sometimes!" Lucky groaned. "You do realize we'll be in serious trouble if we get caught right? And I'm not covering for you two this ti-" The lavender unicorn's eyes widened when he noticed someone approaching them, the other two noticed their friends shift in tone and immediately turn to where he was looking...and gasped in shock

It was not a pony, that much was sure. It appeared to be a large gargoyle of some sort. It was tall, even taller than Princess Celestia herself, though that was because it walked on its hind legs. Brown fur covered its body, ending just before its wrists and ankles, after which each member ended on a grey skinned appendage. On the back it sported a pair of bat wings and long tale, the end of which ended in a tuft of dark brown, similar to the lion mane around its neck, that just barely reached the top of it's head. The creature's face resembled that of a baboon, with a long muzzle and flat nose. However, the most shocking thing of the gargoyle were its eyes, black as the void, with green irises.

"Halt! State your name immediately!" Lucky shouted as he quickly got in front of his friends.

"I need to speak to the Princesses at once." Said the gargoyle in a raspy, slithery voice.

"I don't think you heard him." Amber said with a scowl as she and Hot Head got to their friend's side. "State your name immediately or we will be forced to use force!"

The gargoyle narrowed his eyes for a moment before sighing and relaxing his muscles. "My name is Scorpan, I come bearing important news for the Princesses."

"And why in Celestia's mane should we believe you?!" Hot Head snorted as he took a step forward. "For all we know you could be planning to assassinate the Princesses!"

Scorpan seemingly rolled his eyes, before giving the three of them a deadpan expression. "Yes, because assassinating the Princesses within breathing distance of the God of Chaos would be such a good plan." He said, sarcasm dripping off of every word.

Hot Head was about to retort when another voice interrupted them. "What is going on here?!"

Everyone turned to see another Royal Guard approaching them, an Earth Pony Stallion with a light brown coat and a brown & yellow mane.

"Commander Fletcher!" Hot Head exclaimed giving a salute, mimicking that of his friends. "This _creature_," He said, casting a glare at the gargoyle. "Is demanding entrance as well as an audience with the Princess!"

Fletcher arched a brow. "And you are...?"

"Scorpan." He answered, just mildly annoyed at the slow reception.

Fletcher blinked. "Scorpan? As in Scorpan, "Brother of Tirek"?" He asked, much to the three guards confusion.

Scorpan nodded.

"Wait, you know this guy?" Amber asked.

"I'll debrief the three of you later. Please Sir, follow me." Added Fletcher addressing the unusual guest. Both took to the hallways, undoubtedly in direction to the throne room, leaving the trio of guards completely confused. However, right before he turned a corner, Fletcher returned to address them. "By the way, Hot Head. _Somepony_ has been messing with the castle armors. Be sure to fix those few after you polish each and every one of the castle." Satisfied with the instruction, the lieutenant continued his way.

"Oooooooh, busted!" Lucky taunted him while Amber snickered shamelessly.

"Shaddup." Hot Head muttered.

"You too, Amber!" Fletcher called, causing the Earth Pony to stop giggling, Lucky simply gave them a smug smirk.

* * *

><p>As Fletcher and Scorpan entered the throne room, they were treated to the sight of the Princess of the Sun in the middle of an argument with her husband; Discord.<p>

"Honestly, you are just impossible sometimes!"

"I honestly fail to see how this is my fault."

"Who else would drop a bucket of bleach that turned me into GRAYSCALES?!" Hollered the alicorn mare to the suddenly frightened draconequus. Effectively, the pinkish white alicorn, with a flowing mane of the colors of the morning lights and golden and purple regalia now stood up in the throne room with none of those colors, but rather a selection of gray tones. It was a rather amusing sight to behold, which earned a stifled laugh from the current visitor, prompting the couple to direct their gazes upon him, after which the Princess of the Sun seemingly exchanged her rage into confusion. "Scorpan? What are you…?"

"My apologies, your Majesty." Interveined Commander Fletcher, taking a step toward the Princess and giving a deep bow. "Lord Scorpan has arrived just a few minutes ago. He claims to have important news to give you."

Princess Celestia nodded in understanding, and after asking Scorpan to wait a few seconds more, she returned to her husband. "Could you at least turn me back again?"

Discord immediately snapped his fingers and in a flash Celestia recovered all of her colors. "If you ask me, you look just fine either way."

"Thanks honey, but we're not done about this." The Princess added before dismissing both him and the lieutenant, though she knew the former wouldn't go too far, leaving just herself and the current king of the Demon Wastelands. "It's been a long time Scorpan, but I'm glad to see an old friend again."

"The sentiment is mutual, your highness." Said the gargoyle demon at the same time he gave a brief bow. "I'd come to visit sooner, but due to the recent events… How is he?" Scorpan asked in a solemn tone.

Celestia also took on a sad semblance as she faced that question. "Tirek's been kept under triple security after his re-imprisonment, but he's still as defiant as ever." Celestia winced when she looked the expression on Scorpan's face, that betrayed the burden of shame and guilt. There was something else on him though, like certain eagerness to say something that is bothering him. "But Tirek is not the reason you came to Equestria, is it?"

Scorpan somberly nodded before turning to gaze upon the morning sky, the Sun pouring its light through the room's windows. "I'm afraid you are right, Celestia. I have terrible news for Equestria:" He turned to see Princess Celestia to the eye, and she could see the graveness of the situation engraved on his factions.

"Grogar is returning."

* * *

><p><span>DarknessRising And Hidden Scorpius XI, present:<span>

A "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" Fanfiction.

Based on the characters created by Kilala97.

**My Little Pony Next Generation: The New Harmony!**


	2. Last Day of School!

_*Tick… tock… tick… tock...*_

_'Come on...come on...'_ Prism Bolt thought as he was impatiently looking at the clock, practically begging it to go faster. The last hours had become eternal in an attempt to mock his force of will. But he wasn't going to lose over this matter, since in a few more minutes, the most important day of the year, and even his life, was about to commence. Prism Bolt was the son of the two Wonderbolts; Rainbow Dash and Soarin. He had inherited most of his looks from his mother, right down to her rainbow-colored mane, his coat was a darker shade of blue, he wore a small band-aid on the tip of his mussel, and his cutie mark is a prism with a rainbow-colored thunderbolt.

"Mr. Bolt!" Called an authoritative voice, breaking his concentration on the torture device mounted in the wall, remembering immediately where he was: Ponyville's High School. The lilac and blonde mare that called him, Ms. Doo, looked incredibly annoyed and he could tell she had all the right to be so. "Can you please at least pretend you are paying attention? Maybe you could increase your grades the next period if you start doing that now."

"What? I _am_ paying attention..." _'To the time'_ Thought the young stallion. In truth, he hadn't heard a thing from the history lesson; not that he didn't care, but because there were more important things right now. He gave a quick glance to the clock again. _'Ten more minutes!'_

"Oh really?" Deadpanned the professor, her tone prompting everypony, Prism included, to turn to her. "Then you wouldn't mind telling the class what families are responsible for the foundation of Ponyville?"

_'Oh shoot!'_ "Sure. No problem." He lied as his cogs turned in an attempt to improvise an answer and hope it is correct. "The Rich and Silver families!" Prism almost screamed.

"Correct." Prism sighed in relief. "And the third family?" Only to get tense a second later.

However, an orange hoof raised from the other side of the room, saving Prism Bolt from the teacher's inquiry. "Ah. Yes, Starburst?"

The pegasus mare perked up from her seat, as she blew away the blue and pink bangs from her eyes and readied to give her answer. "The Apple family, Ms. Doo." She answered confidently. "It was because of their discovery of the Zap Apples, that the region where they settled became a point of interest for many farmers and small business, and because of that, the surrounding land where they settled grew and became the town we know today." She finished her intervention and returned to her own seat. This was Starburst, the daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Royal Guard Flash Sentry. Aside from her cutie mark, which was a pink diagonal line with two blue line making and "X" in back of it, she was practically an orange-coated version of her mother(minus the horn).

"Excellent, Starburst! Well done!" Ms. Doo praised, to which all the other ponies in the classroom contributed with compliments and light clopping. The pony right next to Starburst, a grayish-bluecoated filly with a pink mane with white streaks and a cotton candy cutie mark, gave her a playful push. She turned to see her friend and daughter of Pinkie Pie; Cotton Candy, who simply smiled at her friend and resumed to pay attention to the class. "Very well then, I suppose that can be it for today's lesson."

"But before you leave!" Ms. Doo jumped to add as she saw Prism Bolt just extending his wings. The rest of the class tensed in anticipation to the bit of news they were all expecting to receive today. "Here I have your reports from last week. And I'm glad to announce that all of you have passed this assignment!" She said as she levitated a stack of papers and set out to deliver each report, stopping on each desk to deliver compliments to each of her students. While everypony else took the chance to partake on small chat, Starburst remained still on her desk, eyes upfront, as she waited for the professor to pass by her desk and leave her report.

Still, even though Star pretended to maintain a disciplined attitude at all times, she still caught some of Ms. Doo commentaries out of interest, especially those regarding her friends. Like how Prism's record of all B+'s remained unscathed and her surprised yelp as she once again noticed Turquoise Blitz in the back of the room, followed by a plethora of apologies, to what the half-dragon simply replied "It's no problem". It was impressive how unnoticed that colt could undergo when he wanted, not an easy task when you were twice the size of a stallion of his age, not to mention his draconic features.

"Whatcha thinkin about?" Came the voice on her left, pulling Starburst out of her musings. She turned to see Candy once again, the young mare sporting a friendly smile.

"Nothing special, really." She calmly admitted, she knew better than anypony that you should always try to be open about anything when talking with Cotton Candy. That filly always had the best interest of everypony at heart, and it wasn't any different with Starburst, especially considering that she's technically a Royal Princess, so Star was very grateful for that "normal" treatment. Which reminded her: "I just remembered, what are we going to do this afternoon?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Candy asked, a bit confused.

"What, aren't you gonna drag me around to socialize and have fun?" Starburst had to admit to herself, the idea of a day free from the crazy filly's plans was like a dream.

"Nope, not today!"

Though it was still a surprising revelation. "Huh. Well, I'm not complaining. But I'm curious as to why." She asked, now completely invested in the conversation.

Ms. Doo passed by Candy's desk and left her report, graded A-, and continued to the students seated behind her. Candy put away the paper as she gave her answer. "Well, because I'm making cakes with Mom today, of course."

"What?! But Candy, you hate baking."

"No silly, I _suck_ at baking. There's a difference."

Star mentally shuddered at the thought of _Candy_ of all ponies cooking! While the mare had inherited many things from her mother, her cooking skills were not one of them. Every time she tried it ended either burned, liquefied (somehow), or on that one occasion _brought to life!_ She still couldn't figure out how _that_ happened...

"Besides, Mom will be helping me. But it doesn't matter if what we bake isn't the best cake we make. It's been almost three days since I did something with my mommy. You know, quality time and stuff." Candy explained as she she made a thorough inspection of the contents on her saddlebag, making sure they were neat and ordered. _'Another difference from her mother'_ thought Starburst.

"I see." She simply said as Star resumed her position on her desk.

"Oh, I know! You could come along with your Mom!" Candy suddenly suggested, taking Starburst by surprise.

"... No, thank you, really. I wouldn't like to intrude." Starburst calmly stated.

"Oh well, then maybe you could ask your mom to have some quality time with you! She's in town, isn't she?"

"Yeah, but…" She sighed, finding hard to talk about this. Starburst loved her mom very much, but they hardly had _anything_ in common, she herself was more interested in the duties and training of the royal guard, while her mother was very focused in her studies in magic and the royal business she had to attend to. As a result, they weren't very close. "Ugh, you know how this is, Candy. Unless I have anything that we can bond over with, there's little chance we can spend so much time together."

"Here you are, Starburst." Said Ms. Doo as she stepped between the two fillies and left the last paper from her stack. "Congratulations, you made an excellent progress this year!" She happily added before returning to the front of the class. with some trepidation Starburst took the report and directed her sights to the upper-left corner of the paper, where she found a big red A+ printed on it. She brought back the rest of her grades from the past school year to memory, and realised that they were all A+'s. She just got a perfect score this year.

Candy, on the other hoof, was glancing over her shoulder at the paper, but quickly retreated to her seat when Starburst noticed her, just a mild annoyance shown in her face. "So… you were saying?" Starburst didn't answer, but she mentally noted that her mom would certainly be very proud when Star tells her the news.

"Okay, class. I guess we're done for now. I'll see you the next period! Enjoy your…"

_*RIIIIIIING*_

The classroom of young ponies depleted in a matter of seconds, the sound of hooves and wings drowning the sound of the schoolbell as they made their way to the door, through the hallways and finally to outside of the building, leaving Dinky Doo in a state of astonishment.

"...Vacations."

~~~o~~~

"FREE AT LAST!" Prism called out as he burst through the doors and soared into the sky.

"Oh, stop being so over dramatic." A voice called out, Prism looked down to see a purple Pegasus mare with a spiky light blue mane and a mini tornadocutie mark exiting the school, along with the rest of their friends. This was Whirlwind, the daughter of Cloudchaser and Thunderlane. "The way you're acting would make ponies think you'd just got out of prison."

"It wouldn't be too far from the truth, Whirlwind!" Prism joked as he landed on a nearby cloud.

Whirlwind chuckled at her friend's little joke. "You know, your grades would improve a lot if you actually took the classes seriously..."

"Aw, come on Dubz! You know I hate being stuck in one place for so long!" The tri-color-maned pegasus complained, giving her a smirk as he called her by her nickname. "Besides, Ms. Doo's lectures are soooo boring. My mom teaches history way better!"

"Turquoise!" The little conversation they had was interrupted with the call that another pony made from the road left to the group, or more accurate, another dragon-pony. She had a light purple coat similar to that of a pony, but it had the tail and claws of a dragon with deep purple spines from her hair to her tufted tail, she also had two small white horns that extended behind her ears, and instead of a cutie mark she had several dark purple scales where one would be on a pony. This was Crystal Clarity, the daughter of Spike and Rarity and the worlds first dragon-pony hybrid. She advanced towards them in her feline-like way of walking, and there was a certain spring on her step, indicating that she was in a hurry, which usually never was something good for the pony she was looking for; in this case: her younger brother; Turquoise Blitz.

Turquoise, or simply T as his friends liked to call him, was alot taller than his sister despite being younger, and looked alot more like a dragon. His entire body was light-green, save form the darker scales where his cutie mark would be, his similarly-colored mane stood up like regular dragon spikes, and his wings were much larger than any ponies, to the where you hide under one of them.

"Good thing I caught you, T! Hello guys… Prism Bolt." She addressed the airborne pegasus with a deadpan, to which the colt simply snorted, then returned to Turquoise. "Mother got a last minute order delivery for Canterlot and she cannot get it dispatched with her usual service in time, so she asked us to help her."

"Now?" T dumbfoundedly asked. "'Cuz I was actually going to…"

"Oh, we just gotta take her things to the train station, then you'll be free to go and see Annie. I promise." Claire said, understanding very well what concerned his little brother. T visibly relaxed at Claire's assurance, and both made their way to Carousel Boutique after saying their "goodbyes".

"Well, I guess summer is officially in progress!" Stated Candy while hopping in place with a big smile on her face. "Oh, I know! We should all go to the lake tomorrow! We're gonna have so much fun this summer!"

"I'm with ya, CeeCee, but I'm not waiting 'till tomorrow. I'm off to Sweet Apple Acres! Gotta score to settle with Del!" Prism announced as he took off. "See ya!"

Whirlwind rolled her eyes. "I'd better go too, gotta make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

"That and you're still sore at Red for beating you in that hoof-wrestling contest." Star teased, earning a snort of irritation from her fellow pegasus.

"AND you wanna see Prism getting all hot and sweaty!" Candy giggled.

Whirlwind blushed at Candy's remark before turning away. "W-Where did you get THAT idea?!"

"Didn't hear a 'no'!" Candy happily stated in a sing-song tone. Whirlwind simply glared at her and took off in the same direction as Prism, not without some grumbling.

"No wonder Prism dated her, she's cute when she's angry."

Star shot Candy a quizzical look.

"I'm kidding." Candy lightly assured, before turning to her last friend remaining. "So. You're gonna try what we talked about?"

Starburst nodded. "Yeah, it's not like I have anything to lose by trying." She said matter of factly, walking down the road from the school building.

"That's the spirit!"

~~~X~~~

"...25...26...27...28...29..."

Applejack watched the scene before her with a strong feeling of déjà vu. There was her son; Golden Delicious, a yellow-coated stallion with a brown, golden-striped mane, a big, golden apple for a cutie mark, and a red bandana around his neck. He was once again bumping heads with Prism Bolt. She had seen him and Whirlwind flying over to the east orchard, no doubt looking for Del. This time, the blue pegasus and the orange earth pony were engaged in a push-up contest, Prism had even went through the trouble of tying his wings to his sides for the sake of fairness.

"You ready to give up, Del?!" Prism challenged, sweat trailing down his body as he panted.

"Not on your life, Prism!" Del retorted, equally tired as he gritted his teeth.

Applejack approached the group and stood right next to the pegasus that wasn't lying on the ground. "Hey there, Whirlwind!" The Apple Farmer smiled. "Came to watch, I reckon."

"Hello Mrs. Applejack!" Whirlwind greeted. "That and make sure Prism doesn't hurt himself." She said, watching the current competition between the two stallions. "I swear I don't get where those two got that rivalry!"

"One of life's greatest mysteries!" A voice came from up the road. Applejack turned to glare a snickering Applebloom, who was making her way to the barn, and away from them, carrying a basket of ripe, red fruit.

She returned to see the two colts on their contest, which lasted another thirty minutes before ending in a solid draw. Of course, the two of them immediately began rambling about setting the score down in some other way. They were so focused on that that none of them noticed an Earth Pony Royal Guard approaching the farm until Applejack started walking to meet him halfway.

"Howdy, sir! What can I do for you?" She asked after meeting with the gray stallion with the gray coat and the brownish orange mane at the entrance of the lands.

"Hello Mrs. Applejack. I have a message from the Princess..."

~~~X~~~

Starburst's home always bothered her a little, it can be a bit of an eyesore but she got used to it as time went on. The three shaped castle was located just on the east side of the town, it's crystal-like entrance were always opened, and as such, there were always two guards dutifully standing on each side of the gate. She nodded to the Guards as they greeted her when she entered and made her way down the corridor, filled with several stained glass windows depicting her some of her mother's memories that she had alongside her friends; She knew the story behind those pieces, like the time Mrs. Dash pulled off her very first Sonic Rainboom that bonded them all without them knowing it, or the time when Miss Fluttershy' befriended Discord and effectively made him change for the better. There was also one from when her mother ascended to an Alicorn and one portrait of her whole family.

Starburst ignored the rest for the moment, instead focusing on her approach. Mom usually was in her study doing some "light" reading; if that was the case, then getting her attention would be difficult, but she wouldn't be too bothered to oblige in the end. Then, she would inform her about her performance during the last school period, earning a positive response in all likelihood. It is possible that Starburst's mom could proclaim a small celebration, along with her dad and little brother, which would defeat her purpose, so Star was currently rehearsing a contingency route as she was walking down the halls.

"Actually Mom, I would like to do something with just the two of us." She heard herself saying, evaluating tone and intonation. "No, sounds too disattached… Maybe I should try 'eager'... Not really me, and 'hesitant' would make her believe I'm not interested." She, stopped herself before rounding the last corner and kept debating on that choice.

After a few minutes, she resumed her way toward the study. As Starburst made her way there, she could heard her mom talking with somepony, likely visit from one of her friends, Star would just have to avoid being intrusive when she entered the room.

_'Not a problem'_ She thought. However, when she opened the doors, she saw a pony she didn't expect: Anthea, Fluttershy's daughter. She was a cream coated unicorn with a lime green mane that was braided near the end, her cutie mark was a flower. Unlike the rest of the Council of Harmony, Anetha, or Annie as she liked to be called, was adopted by Fluttershy instead of being born. She was almost completely blind, almost being due to her unique magic that allowed her to "see", however it was mostly in blurry blotches of such, Starburst's mother had taken it upon herself to teach her how to control her magic.

Currently she was standing in front of a potted plant, with Star's mom right next to it. A few steps behind, Star could see her little brother, a dark purple unicorn named Night Light, looking intently at the scene. None of them had noticed Starburst after she entered the room, though she really couldn't blame Annie for it.

"Now focus Annie." Princess Twilight encouraged as the young unicorn directed all of her senses on the object in the middle of the room. "Remember, if you cannot pull the spell the first time, I'll perform it immediately. There's nothing to fear."

"I'm not afraid." The blind unicorn simply said as she readied herself for whatever was going on.

"You can do it Annie!" Night Light cheered from the secure distance between him and the plant.

Twilight let out a light laugh as she also readied her own magic. "Okay, in three…" her horn flashed a lot brighter. "... two…" a similar light enveloped the flower of the plant, which started to wiggle in a strange faction. "... one." she released her magic, and the flower shot a puff of pollen directly at Annie.

After the cloud of pollen dissipated and Star could properly assess what it had done. Annie's face was completely covered in polka dots! And more kept popping out down her neck and into her barrel. Anthea however didn't seem really concerned about that, but instead she called her own magic, which extended past her horn and enveloped her entire body in a green light. A second after, the spell ended and all the dots had completely disappeared without any secondary effects.

"She did it! She did it! She did it!" Night Light cheered as he happily bounced around his mother.

"Excellent work Annie!" The lavender Alicorn smiled. "It took me at least a week to get that spell down back when I first learned it."

"Th-thank you Princess!" Annie said, beaming at the praise she received despite her mild exhaustion.

"Oh oh! Can I try the spell next mommy?! Can I, can I?!" The young unicorn pleaded.

"Woah, slow down there Nighty! This spell is too advanced for you to learn just yet."

"Awww." Nighty groaned.

Twilight also heard a small sigh, but turned just in time to see a glimpse of orange leave the room.

~~~o~~~

Two young filly's nervously peeked into the kitchen to see the aftermath of what was supposed to be an attempt at baking cupcakes, with the perpetrators of such disaster being no other than their elder sister and their own mother. One was a bluish-gray Pegasus named Cloudy Skies and the other was a light pink Unicorn named Sugar Rush.

"Hey look, half of them are barely recognizable this time!" Candy exclaimed as her mother placed a tray burned cupcakes on the table, blissfully unaware of the mess. All around them the kitchen was a war zone; batter coated the floor, walls, and ceiling, with some of the smudges had a few kitchen appliances sticking out of them, and a dark cloud of smoke was rising from the stove.

Pinkie eagerly took a bite out of the cupcake actually _looked_ like it _used_ to be edible. "Hmmm..." She mused as she chewed the-as Pound & Pumpkin had so elegantly put it-unholy abomination of cooking. "Well... it tastes like old dirty socks mixed with rotten eggs, dead fish, and just a hint of skunk fumes." She said bluntly. _'Still better than the ones Applejack made.'_ She mentally added.

Candy looked at her mom with a face that betrayed nothing, but much to the twins surprise, Candy beamed up at the end, her attitude remaining positive. "That's _sooo_ much better than the last time! I'm getting close!"

"How in Equestria is _that_ considered better?!" Cloudy Skies whispered to her sister.

"How in Equestria is Mommy able to eat that and not get sick!?" Countered the other twin.

"I swear, cooking like that should be a illegal!" Cloudy Skies muttered as she turned to leave... only to bump into a green Unicorn Royal Guard with a short, shaggy mane on the way out.

"Oh, hello little one. I'm sorry to intrude, but is your mother in home?" He asked politely.

Cloudy Skies' pupils shrunk as she and her sister quickly held the guard by his hooves. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT! PLEASE DON'T TAKE CANDY!"

The Guard simply looked at the two fillies, before raising his gaze at the pink mare that came out of the kitchen. "...was it something I said?"

~~~o~~~

Star sighed as she entered her room and dropped herself on her princess sized bed, the springs bouncing her small body a few inches before setting down. She didn't like that bed, it was too big, so it took a lot of space from her room. Space that she could be using right now for a little workout routine, but she had too much in her head at the moment. As she rested on her bed, she noticed a familiar white furball leaping onto the covers and getting near her face.

"Hey there, little guy." She said as Snow started sniffling her muzzle. She scooped the albino ferret and started to slowly petting him. It had a strange soothing effect, caressing his soft fur; she liked to do that whenever she had a lot on her mind, or whenever she was upset. Her thoughts revolved around what just had happened. _'Of course today was Annie's magic lesson, she had missed it the last week, and she told me that she really wanted to learn that spell. Why didn't I recall that?'_

Starburst was brought out of her thoughts by a knock from the door. "Star? It's me, can I come in?"

Star let a small smile graced her features. "Sure dad." She said as she hopped out of bed. The door opened to let in High Prince Flash Sentry, who met his daughter in the middle of the room. The two gazed at each other before standing firm and giving each other a salute.

"Rest soldier. Any news on the front?" Asked Flash Sentry.

Star gave a nod before answering the "how's it been today?" from her dad. "Without casualties. The school period came to an end smoothly, and I saved one of my friends from the teacher's interrogation about the founding fathers of Ponyville."

"Prism?" Star nodded, earning a chuckle from her dad. "Guessed as much. Is there anything else?"

"There is." Star answered without hesitation. "Today we were given the last evaluation of the period, and if my memory is correct, then my performance this year was perfect."

"Excellent news! Now, 'act dismissed.'" At that last instruction, Starburst dropped their little game and surged forward to give her father a heartfelt hug. "That's my girl. I'm proud of you Star."

Starburst's smile grew a little after hearing those words.

"Have you told your mother?"

And the smile faded just like that. "I left the report on her study like always. Though I doubt she has seen it yet." She said, maintaining an even tone at the same time she broke the hug.

"Are you okay sweetie?"

"I'm fine dad..."

"You seem upset about something."

"I'm not-"

"Is it a colt?"

"WHAT?! NO! Why would you even think of...!?" Star nearly shouted, a blush now adorning her face, only to see her father holding back his laughter.

"I'm sorry, I just enjoy seeing you get riled up like that, you look so cute!" He chuckled before ruffling his daughter's hair. "Just like your mother."

"Not funny, dad!" Star groaned as she pushed his hoof away.

Her dad chuckled a little bit more before taking on a worried tone. "Really Starburst, you aren't usually _this_ serious. Trust me, I can tell." He added with a warming smile. "So, tell me what's wrong."

Starburst hesitated for a moment, but in the end she motioned to sit on her bed and her dad followed after, then she started. "It's about mom. It started at the end of class when Candy told me that she was going to spend the afternoon with her mother, and I thought it would be a good idea to do the same and… Ugh, forget it, I shouldn't have tried in the first place."

"Don't you ever say that!" Her father snapped so suddenly that Starburst was left startled, not an easy feat. He continued with a caring, yet firm voice. "Not trying is the same thing as giving up. And I know you are not a quitter."

Star listened intently at her dad's words, but she still felt conflicted about the whole situation. Flash continued. "Look Star, your mom isn't the easiest of ponies. She can easily miss a lot of things when she's too focused on something…"

"She doesn't seem to have that problem with Anthea." She muttered, to which her dad quickly caught up.

"Why? Because she goes out of her way to teach her magic?"

"Well, yeah!" Starburst answered. "I mean, Annie doesn't even has to try to get mom's attention, while I have to try so much only to have a conversation with her that lasts longer than a minute!" She unconsciously rubbed her forehead, in the place where a unicorn horn would be located. Her voice wavered a little as she spoke. "I…just wish we had more in common."

Star felt a feather brush her side, and saw her dad offering another hug with his wing, which she accepted. They stayed like that for a good three minutes, after which Starburst had calmed herself enough. Then her father started again.

"Star, listen. You shouldn't ever wish to be something you are not, because that won't make you happy. Instead, you should always try and be the best version of who you are, and never give that up for nothing. You understand?" She gave a small nod, after what Flash continued. "As for the thing with your mom; well, if you didn't have luck this time, then try again until you are successful. I know for a fact that your mom would love nothing more than to spend a day with you" He finished his lecture and proceeded to leave the room. Before he left though, Star called out again.

"You really think it'll work? Trying again, I mean."

Flash Sentry simply gave her a wink. "It worked for me."

~~~o~~~

"So… what did that spell do exactly?" Asked Night Light after a while.

Twilight and Anthea had been talking over the magical theory of the spell for the last minutes after Annie had performed it. By the look of their faces, it was clear that the question caught both of them by surprise. His mom blushed slightly, clearly ashamed to have skipped the part of the lesson where she explained the purpose of the spell. As she tried to find her voice, Anthea gave the explanation herself. "It was a purging spell. It is meant to eliminate any toxins from the target, as long as the poison comes from a plant and needs to be inhaled for it to make effect."

"Poison?!" exclaimed the unicorn colt, as he looked at the purple flower that just a few moments ago had turned Anthea into a polka dot tapestry.

"Don't worry Nighty. That flower is actually quite harmless," assured Princess Twilight, "There are far too few poisonous flora that are actually a…" She was interrupted by a sudden surge of magic. Her horn started to crackle and glow on its own until a single wisp of smoke flowed out of it, before swirling in the air and taking the form of a scroll with the familiar emblem on it.

"Oooh, I'd love to learn how to do that!" Nighty said.

"Sweetie, this isn't a normal spell, I got a letter from Princess Celestia." Twilight explained as she unwrapped the scroll. Ever since Spike had married and moved in with Rarity, Twilight she had decided it would be better if she learned the spell to send and receive letters herself instead of having Spike fly all the way to her Castle, that and the fact that most letters had arrived in the most inconvenient of moments, as he had phrased it. Twilight dutifully read the scroll, expecting it to be a casual communication from her former teacher, but as she read, her face changed to reflect surprise, followed by concern.

_Dear Princess Twilight._

_It is of the utmost importance that you and the Council of Harmony come to Canterlot immediately. A new threat has made itself known and we require your assistance. I will explain more once you arrive._

_Sincerely:_

_Princess Celestia._

"I'm sorry Annie, but I'm afraid we'll end the lesson early today." Twilight said as she rolled up the scroll. "I also need to get your mother to help me with something. Can you get home on your own?"

"Of course I can." She answered with a dry deadpan, before returning to her normal self. "But I'll wait for Turquoise, he's probably on the way by now." That was all Annie got to say before the Princess teleported away.

~~~X~~~

"Come along T! We're practically there!" Claire called out as they approached the train station.

T however gasped in pain as he carried several bags and suitcases on his back, in contrast to the pair of bags she carried on her magic grasp. "No… problem!" He groaned from under his exertion. "Where is dad again?"

"He had to fly over to Canterlot to make sure that mother's things are taken care of when she get's there." Clarity answered bluntly just as they entered the station. There they quickly found their parents in front of the train cars; however, mother seemed to be conversing with a Royal Guard; a dark-blue pegasus stallion whose gray mane obscured his left eye.

"I see, thank you mister Typhoon. I'll see into it as soon as I can." Rarity said as the pegasus took off and flew to the distance. After that, Rarity finally noticed her two children arriving. "Oh, there you are! Thank you so much for helping me out with all these!"

"It was no trouble at all, mother." Claire proclaimed as she set the bags down.

*CRASH*

Both mares turned around to see Turquoise sprawled on the ground with a pile of suitcases and luggage on top of him, completely out of breath. "So...heavy..." He wheezed.

"I think your brother would disagree." Chuckled a voice from above, both mares looked to see Spike descending to the platform.

"Daddy!"

"H-Hey dad..." T weakly called out from under the luggage. "Little help?"

The full-grown dragon sighed as he moved to help T get out of his pinch, while Rarity gave her daughter a knowing glance, to which Claire grinned sheepishly. "I suppose I could have carried a few more bags..."

"I can't feel my wings!" T cried out, now only half buried in bags.

"Clarity..."

"OK, I should have carried a lot more… by the way, what is the thing you and that Royal Guard talking about?"

"Oh, that. You never miss a thing, do you?" Rarity chuckled slightly. "Well, since you want to know, there's another chance at business that came up in Canterlot, and Princess Celestia was considerate enough to send a guard to let me know that!"

"Howdy everypony!" A voice called out, everypony turned to see Applejack trotting towards the train station with Pinkie Pie bouncing not too far behind. "Ah'm guessing y'all got the message too?"

"What, the message of the sudden business opportunity that my mom learned just now?" Claire lowered her gaze a little to see the reaction on her mother's face and she fought the urge to smirk. "Now, Mother. Why would Princess Celestia inform Mrs. Apple and Mrs. Pie of that too?"

"Ouh, I swear you are just terrible Crystal Clarity." Rarity complained. As she explained what is really happening, a flash of light caught everypony else's attention, and they all saw Princess Twilight walking to the platform, with a mildly dazed Fluttershy in tow.

"Hi girls, I'm glad to see most of you are here already." She turned to a special chariot, one adorned with jewels on it, in the shape of the the Cutie Marks of the first and current members of the Council of Harmony. It was landing on the road in front of the station, from which one of the guards that was pulling the vehicle unhinged himself and addressed the princess with a bow.

"Princess Twilight, we are prepared to escort you and the Council to Canterlot." The guard said with a bow.

Twilight nodded before turning to her friends. "Great work, Sergeant. Alright everypony, let's get moving!"

"Hold on a sec, Twi. Aren't we forgetting' about Rai-"

*BOOM*

Before Applejack could finish her question, a sonic explosion swallowed all the other sounds as a multi colored halo spread through the sky. From it's center, a rainbow-colored streak shot and flew straight towards Canterlot.

"...never mind, let's go." The farmer said as they all boarded the chariot. All but one white unicorn.

"But… What about my things? I…" She was interrupted by a purple claw placed on her shoulder. She turned to see Spike giving her a comforting smile.

"Don't worry about this; we'll load it to the train and I'll make the trip on it and make sure all is delivered properly" The grown dragon said as he ushered his wife to the chariot. After some more good byes, Spike turned to address his two children… only to find that both of them were long gone, and he was alone with a mountain sized pile of bags. "Aww… rats."

~~~X~~~

After a short flight, the chariot carrying the five mares arrived to Canterlot Castle, just in front of the main gate. There, the rainbow-maned pegasus was waiting nonchalantly, placidly looking as the vehicle pulled by the pegasus guards landed a few feet away.

"You guys sure took your sweet time getting here!" Rainbow Dash snarked at the group that was approaching her.

"Oh look! You can break the sound barrier at the drop of a hat." Applejack commented as she as she walked past the cyan Pegasus, purposely dripping sarcasm with each word. "Big deal."

"Hey!" Exclaimed Rainbow as she leaped and landed in front of the farm pony in a single motion. "Where does that exactly come from?!" The two of them looked like they were about to fight, only for Twilight to to use her magic to drag the two away from each other.

"Girls! This isn't the moment or the place for that. The Princesses are waiting for us!" Twilight said as she trotted past them and into the castle, the rest of her friends following her soon after.

AJ, on the other hoof, started to chuckle as she gave Dash a playful punch. "Don't worry none about that, I was just messing with ya." She said before waking up the stairs along with the rest of them.

"Oh right… I knew that!"

Once inside the castle, a small escort hastily directed them to the throne room, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting on the front most part of the room.

"Princess, we came as soon as we got your message!" The lavender Alicorn said before bowing to her, the rest of the Council of Harmony following suite.

Celestia smiled happily as she approached her peer. "Honestly Twilight? All this time and you still insist on these formalities? We are both Princesses now."

"I'm sorry Princess, but you know what they say: 'old habits die hard.'" She joked, earning a round of giggling among most of the ponies present. Rarity, who hadn't actually found the comment all that humorous, let her sight to wander on the room, instantly stopping as she noticed other two entities in the room.

"Um… pardon me, your majesty" she interjected, "but I don't think we've had the honor of being introduced to the rather… em… _rugged_-looking fellow over there."

Everypony then turned the attention to what appeared to be a winged baboon sitting in a meditative pose on the far side of the room, apparently unaware of the upside-down pyramid of cards that was being erected on its head by none other than Discord. Some giggles came from a few of the mares at the draconequus' antics, which seemed to bring the strange visitor out of his trance.

"'_Rugged_-looking'? Now, that's a first one!" Exclaimed the creature as he stood up, the pyramid still wobbling on his head, just before he removed the whole construct from his cranium with a finger and placed it on Discord's snout, earning a few more laughs from the ponies, princesses included. "It is an honor to finally meet you: Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and the renowned Council of Harmony." He said as he walked towards the group and making a quick reverence. "As for my name, it is Scorpan."

"Wait a second." Interrupted Applejack. "Scorpan as in Tirek's brother? The Tirek that tried to take away the magic from all of Equestria?"

"Isn't there somepony that knows me by another title?"

"No, the 'other Tirek.'" Discord snorted with a roll of his eyes as he flicked the cards off his nose, the cards turning into butterflies with wings shaped like suits ( ). "You know, the one who bakes cookies and grows posies for a living." He said sarcastically, earning himself a glare from Applejack.

"Oh, I remember now!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You're that guy who gave that necklace to Tirek, who gave it to Discord, who gave it to Twilight, who used it to open that box thingy all those, that helped us defeat Tirek!"

"Well, I'm glad that my gift turned out to be the _key_ element for your victory."

The pink mare let out a giggle. "I like this guy!"

"Right, you're the good egg of the family." The cyan Pegasus muttered.

"True, though I'm glad to say that I'm not the only decent demon in my own land. However, today I have come to warn you of something that is threatening both Equestria and my own Kingdom."

"Is it some ancient villain from one thousand years ago again?" Rainbow asked, earning a few confused looks from her friends. "What? Am I seriously the only one who noticed that?"

"Uh, right..." Scorpan muttered before clearing his throat. "like I was saying, sometime before my brother and I set our sights on Equestria, we tried to take over the throne of the Demon Wastelands, so we waged battle with who was the king at the time: Grogar."

As he explained, he extended his hands and from them came wisps of smoke that began to swirl into the center of the room, eventually forming an image of himself and Tirek facing off against a demonic looking ram.

"However, Grogar emerged victorious and banished us while he continued his tyrannical reign over the land. After that, my brother and I did not abandon our wish for total control, but instead of trying to face Grogar again, we tried to conquer Equestria, and you all know how that turned out..."

The illusion shifted, turning into an image of Tirek being imprisoned in Tartarus by several chains conjured up by the Celestia and Luna. Scorpan waited until everypony nodded before continuing. "After my misguided brother was sealed away, I returned to challenge Grogar once again. But this time, I had an ace up my sleeve: a special charm my good friend Starswirl gave me, that helped me defeat Grogar and sealed that wicked ram away inside an inescapable dimension." The illusion shifted a final time, revealing Scorpan himself creating a special cyclone of green energy that sucked Grogar into a dark void.

"I would've sealed him in a rice maker, much more humiliating." Discord proclaimed before snapping his fingers, turning the image to show said appliance rattling in place with angry screams being heard from inside.

"Amusing." Scorpan chuckled as he dispelled the illusion. "After his defeat, and as it is the custom of the demons, I took the throne of the Wastelands and proceeded to bring the Demon Wasteland to a new era."

All of the present stood in silence until Twilight spoke up. "Then what's the emergency? Has Grogar broke free?"

"Not yet." Answered Princess Celestia. "Scorpan told us already that Grogar is still trapped on this 'dark dimension', but that for some reason the seal is breaking."

"Grogar is very likely to want to take back the Wastelands, but just like my brother after his escape, he'll more likely try to conquer Equestria first. 'The friend of my enemy...'" Scorpan quickly added at the shocked expressions of the six mares. "He knows ponies were the source of the magic that trapped him, so he won't take any chances. We need to prevent that before it's too late."

Before anypony else could say anything else, Twilight continued her inquiry. "But why do you need us? Can't you do it yourself?"

"No. The spell that was contained in the charm was supposed to trap him forever, and as such, it only works once. And I don't have the power to send him back to his prison once he's free."

"But there's one thing that can seal him again." Continued Princess Celestia. "The magic that you girls received from the Three of Harmony is the best next option we have if we want to stop Grogar on his tracks."

"So basically, we're gonna just shut the door on that goat's face before he can get out"

"Actually Rainbow, he looks more like a ram." Fluttershy corrected quietly.

"...whatever."

"That about sums it up." Scorpan nodded. "I will need to take you to the sealing grounds, that's where he will reappear. We must act quickly if we want to stop him."

"Easy peasy, We'll be done by dinner!" Pinkie giggled before bouncing towards the doors. "Come on girls! Let's go get ready to save the world for the umpteen-gazillionth time!" She joked, making the rest of her friends to giggle a bit at her over-enthusiasm.

"Well not in those words, Pinkie has a point. We do need to return to our homes before we go, as well as to deal with… ahem, other things." Said Rarity, looking somehow anxious.

"An understandable request." Scorpan nodded. "Grogar won't break free until twenty four hours, so I'll wait until you are ready." With those words he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Huh, I thought only Discord could do that." Pinkie mumbled.

"Yes, but I make it look cool." Discord smirked before snapping his fingers, causing his body to vanish in a flash of light. After that, the Council of Harmony and the both princesses exited the throne room too. All failed to notice the figure with the form of a pony that raised from the red carpet, which then discarded that color and replaced it with a white coat and black fur in one flash of light. There stood the son of Celestia and Discord: Prince Illusion, his left hoof was seemingly a lions paw while his right back-hoof was a claw, he had a completely white coat, a black mane and chest hair of equal color along with two horns like his father, one being blue and jagged and the other being green and straight, like his father her had a lizards tail with a tuft of black fur on the tip, and his cutie mark seemingly a moon, star and sun all together.

"Heh, and Nidra says history lessons are boring..." He chuckled before snapping his fingers of his pawed leg and teleporting away.

~~~X~~~

The Royal Sisters watched as the chariot took off, heading back to Ponyville with Rainbow Dash flying by it's side. Down the road however, they saw a white unicorn trotting away to the business part of town, likely going to her appointment on the fashion store located there. Luna glanced to her side and saw her sister giving the finishing touches to a letter before rolling up the scroll and sending the message with a flick of her horn.

"What was that?" asked Luna out of curiosity.

"I sent a message to the Crystal Empire, so that they can take measures. Just in case."

"Do you think they will make it, sister?" The lunar alicorn asked. "While they had dealt with situations like this before, they were usually against enemies that we had faced before."

"I do, Luna. Even if there's a chance of another outcome, we should always hope for the best...and prepare for the worst." Celestia stated somberly, before changing the topic. "By the way, I noticed you didn't say much in the meeting, not even a single word. Is there something wrong?"

Luna looked at Celestia with a serious semblance before calmly answering. "You know as well as I do that there is, Sister."

Celestia once again fell a rock falling on her stomach. _'Of course she noticed…'_ "Yes, Luna. I also felt it, but I don't know _why_ is it here exactly. Right now we have this other problem to deal with, so unless this issue turns into a problem, we must remain focused on Grogar."

Luna stared at her sister for a few seconds, before nodding and turning back to the castle. "Let's 'hope for the best' then." She said with a smirk.


End file.
